United States · Willamette Valley

Sokol Blosser Winery

Founded in Oregon’s Dundee Hills in 1971, Sokol Blosser is a family-owned winery farming certified-organic sites across three Willamette Valley AVAs.

The producer

Susan Sokol and Bill Blosser planted their first vines in the Dundee Hills in 1971. That original 89-acre, certified-organic estate sits on red volcanic Jory soil, 28 miles southwest of Portland, and grows Pinot Noir alongside Pinot Gris and Riesling. Alex Sokol Blosser, who became winery president in 2023 after working in sales, winemaking and vineyard oversight, now leads the second generation.

The winery farms 128 acres across Dundee Hills, Eola-Amity Hills and Yamhill-Carlton. Pinot Noir links the founding estate to Kalita Estate Vineyard in Yamhill-Carlton, acquired in 2021, where 22 certified-organic acres are planted to Pinot Noir with a small amount of Pinot Meunier. The label’s AVA and grape offer the clearest starting points: Dundee Hills returns to the original rows, while Kalita brings another Oregon vineyard into view.

Known for

Certified-organic Oregon vineyard wines, rooted in Dundee Hills Pinot Noir and extending across Dundee Hills, Eola-Amity Hills and Yamhill-Carlton.

Notable facts

The story

A Tasting Room Built in 1978

In 1978, seven years after Susan Sokol and Bill Blosser planted their first vines in the Dundee Hills, Sokol Blosser opened what it describes as Oregon’s first tasting room. The building was designed by Oregon architect John W. Storrs. Rather than treating tasting as an afterthought to the vineyard, the young winery had a dedicated place where visitors could come to the estate and encounter its wines. The opening came while the Dundee Hills plantings were still young, and Storrs’s design gave those early bottles a physical home beyond the cellar and vineyard rows. The tasting room remains a dated marker from the estate’s first decade.

From the atlas

Sokol Blosser Winery

At A Glance

The Producer

Sokol Blosser began when Susan Sokol and Bill Blosser planted vines in the Dundee Hills in 1971. That original planting remains the physical centre of a family-owned Oregon winery that now works beyond one hill, while still holding its founding estate. Alex Sokol Blosser became winery president in February 2023 after roles in sales, winemaking and vineyard oversight, linking the current leadership to the practical path from vineyard rows to bottled wine.

Place

The winery’s 128 acres are spread across three Oregon AVAs: Dundee Hills, Eola-Amity Hills and Yamhill-Carlton. An AVA on a wine label identifies the recognised growing area behind the grapes, so these names distinguish where Sokol Blosser’s Pinot Noir and other varieties begin. Dundee Hills is the original home; Yamhill-Carlton enters through Kalita Estate Vineyard. The result is a range built from several Oregon places rather than a single undifferentiated estate source.

Soil And Site

The Dundee Hills Estate lies 28 miles southwest of Portland and covers 89 certified-organic acres originally planted in 1971. Its red volcanic Jory soils are a defining physical feature of the Dundee Hills AVA, placing Pinot Noir, Pinot Gris and Riesling on the ground that shaped the estate’s first crop. Soil alone is not a tasting note, but it fixes the Dundee Hills wines to a particular hillside origin instead of treating Oregon as one broad label.

Story

The estate’s story starts with first vines, then widens through land. From the 1971 Dundee Hills planting, Sokol Blosser has grown into a 128-acre operation across three AVAs, with the original estate still carrying the oldest thread. That expansion gives Pinot Noir more than one Oregon setting: the founding Dundee Hills blocks remain in view while later vineyard work brings Eola-Amity Hills and Yamhill-Carlton into the cellar’s annual choices.

Vineyards And Cellar

Certified-organic farming is documented at the Dundee Hills Estate and at Kalita Estate Vineyard, which Sokol Blosser acquired in 2021. Kalita sits in Yamhill-Carlton, where 22 certified-organic acres are planted to Pinot Noir, with a small amount of Pinot Meunier. Those acreage and grape decisions give the winery a clear vineyard structure: the Dundee Hills estate supplies Pinot Noir, Pinot Gris and Riesling, while Kalita adds another Pinot Noir source. No house oak recipe or cellar vessel defines the supplied picture; the useful distinction begins with where each grape is grown.

Wines

Sokol Blosser’s documented range starts with grapes and sites. Pinot Noir is planted at the Dundee Hills Estate and at Kalita, creating a red-wine thread across two named AVAs. Pinot Gris and Riesling grow at the Dundee Hills Estate, extending the range beyond Pinot Noir into white grapes with their own fruit, acidity and body questions. When comparing bottles, start with the AVA and grape on the label: Dundee Hills points back to the original 89-acre estate, while Yamhill-Carlton Pinot Noir can point to Kalita’s later addition.

In The Glass

Pinot Noir is the useful place to begin tasting because it connects both the founding Dundee Hills estate and Kalita. Start with aroma before deciding on fruit, floral, spice or earth; then notice body, acidity, tannin and finish rather than reducing the wine to one flavour. A Dundee Hills Pinot Gris or Riesling shifts the frame toward white-wine texture, citrus or stone-fruit character, acidity and dry or sweet balance. The point is to let the grape establish the sensory register, then use the AVA on the label to keep the wine tied to its vineyard source.

A Bottle To Understand It

Start with Sokol Blosser’s Dundee Hills Estate Pinot Noir. It brings the first-planted estate, the 1971 date, red volcanic Jory soil and the winery’s central grape into one bottle. In the glass, approach it as a Pinot Noir: look for red-fruit character, assess the weight of the body, then track acidity, tannin and the finish. It comes first because its Dundee Hills origin returns directly to the land where Susan Sokol and Bill Blosser began planting vines.

Anecdote

In 1978, seven years after Susan Sokol and Bill Blosser planted their first Dundee Hills vines, Sokol Blosser opened what it describes as Oregon’s first tasting room. The winery did not simply set out bottles in an existing farm building: it commissioned Oregon architect John W. Storrs to design a dedicated place for tasting. Visitors could come to the estate, taste wines made from the young Dundee Hills plantings, and do so in a building made for that purpose. The tasting room opened while the estate was still in its first decade, with Storrs’s name attached to the structure.

Final Word

Sokol Blosser is easiest to understand through a planted hillside and the bottles that extend from it. Dundee Hills remains the starting point: an 89-acre certified-organic estate on red volcanic Jory soil, planted in 1971. Pinot Noir carries that origin forward, while Pinot Gris, Riesling and the Kalita vineyard show how the winery’s Oregon footprint has widened without losing sight of its first rows.

Sources

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